Winner of the 2003 Orange Prize, Property by Valerie Martin is an extremely readable story set in the South and is, obviously, about slavery and what it means to be free.
Manon is the wife of a cruel slaveowner and is miserable in her marriage. She idealizes her father, who was kind (relatively speaking) to his slaves, and hates her husband, but really, she is not that kind to her slaves herself. Manon is not a likable character at all, though we do feel a little sympathetic toward her situation. Her attitudes toward slavery were probably typical of the time — in other words, deplorable.
It is ironic that Manon really is ‘property’ to her husband as well. I believe that is the thrust of the novel. There is a parallel story between her and her slave Sarah. Both desperately want freedom, but Manon cannot understand why Sarah won’t accept her position as slave. There is a certain scene between Manon and Sarah that I *did not* care for, but it illustrated Manon’s attitudes perfectly. She was enforcing her ‘ownership’ of Sarah just as her husband did.
I thought the story was leading up to a certain conclusion in the end, but it didn’t happen, and the book ends a bit abruptly. Though I wanted more, the book definitely is thought-provoking. It is a quick read — I read it in a single day, and I do recommend it if you’re interested in the time period or Orange Prize winners.
Valerie Martin is a native of New Orleans so I am also counting this for the Southern Reading Challenge.
Memory lived not in initial possession but in the freed hands, pardoned and freed, and in the heart that can empty but fill again, in the patterns restored by dreams.
Eudora Welty’s Pulitzer Prize winning book was a little disappointing to me. I had been looking forward to reading her work for awhile, and I thought this book would be perfect for the Southern Reading Challenge and, of course, the Pulitzer Project. While it does convey a strong sense of the South, I didn’t like Welty’s writing style at all.
The first 2/3 of the book is almost like a play in that it is about 85-90% dialogue. It was extremely difficult to read. The last 1/3 has very little dialogue and was definitely the best part of the book. In this last section, we are able to make sense (a little) of Laurel’s relationship with her parents and her past.
Although I’m glad I read this book for its Southern feel and because I can check off another Pulitzer, I can’t really recommend it unless you are reading it for the same goals.
If you haven’t been in a war and are wondering how long it takes to get used to losing everything you think you need or love, I can tell you the answer is No time at all.
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff won the Printz Award and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for New Writers. I really enjoy ‘end of the world as we know it’ books and this was no exception. However, I did take exception with Daisy’s relationship with her cousin Edmond. Although relationships between cousins used to be acceptable, it just isn’t today. At least by my standards.
Daisy’s father has remarried and she is shipped off to England to stay with her cousins. When her Aunt Penn is away on business, war breaks out and the children are left to fend for themselves, and they survive for awhile admirably. As the war goes on, though, it becomes increasingly difficult for the family to stay together and find the supplies they need. The goal of survival begins to take its toll.
I did enjoy this story, except for the situation noted above. I normally don’t like books written in a run-on, free-form style as this one was, but as it was narrated by a teenager, it didn’t bother me as much as it usually does. I really empathized with Daisy and her situation, and I admired how she was able to see one of her problems in a new light toward the end of the book.
But why did they have to be cousins? The answer isn’t ‘because of the war’ as they began their relationship before it started. I just wish it could have been a friend of the cousins instead.
I really enjoyed this small companion book the the Harry Potter series. The tales were wonderful, and so were the illustrations, which were also done by J.K. Rowling. There are five tales:
The Wizard and the Hopping Pot
The Fountain of Fair Fortune
The Warlock’s Hairy Heart
Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump
The Tale of the Three Brothers
After each tale, we are privileged to get Dumbledore’s commentary about the story. I loved this. Not only did it bring some extra insight into the stories, but it was great to hear Dumbledore’s voice again. In “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot,” a son inherits his father’s pot and rethinks how he will act among the villagers. In the commentary, Dumbledore tells of a woman who tried to sweeten the story up by rewording the ending with the following results:
Mrs. Bloxam’s tale has met the same response from generations of Wizarding children: uncontrollable retching, followed by an immediate demand to have the book taken from them and mashed into pulp.
In “The Fountain of Fair Fortune,” three witches seek to “fight their way to the Fountain, bathe in its waters, and receive Fair Fortune forevermore.” This story was my favorite of the five. It is also interesting to note that in the commentary, Dumbledore states that Lucius Malfoy’s objection to the book
…marked the beginning of Mr. Malfoy’s long campaign to have me removed from my post as headmaster of Hogwarts, and of mine to have him removed from his position as Lord Voldemort’s Favorite Death Eater.
“The Warlock’s Hairy Heart” is by far the darkest tale. In this one, a Warlock is determined to never fall in love; “Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump” tells the reason why “no witch or wizard was ever persecuted in the kingdom again.”; and in “The Tale of the Three Brothers,” the siblings each meet up with Death and strike up a bargain with him.
I thoroughly enjoyed these tales, and I would love it if there were more at some point.
On or about his fiftieth birthday, Ambrose Zephyr failed his annual medical exam. An illness of inexplicable origin with neither known nor foreseeable cure was discovered. It would kill him within the month. Give or take a day.
It was suggested he might want to make arrangements concerning his remaining time. — p. 5 of The End of the Alphabet
Ambrose Zephryr and Zappora “Zipper’ Ashkenazi are a married couple with very little time remaining. After hearing the news of his impending death, Ambrose decides he wants to travel. The couple begin their journey with place names starting with the letter ‘A,’ then ‘B,’ and so on.
This very small book (only 119 pages) was meant to be little. It is indeed indicative of the fleeting amount of time the couple have left to spend together.
I appreciated this novella for its poignancy and tenderness, and its sad portrait of the utter helplessness of its characters. It is a book that can be read in one sitting and/or re-read again and again.
Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Best First Book
2007, 119 pages
Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars won the Newbery Medal in 1971. The title of the book refers to a little boy’s fascination with the birds. Charlie (who is mentally handicapped) and his sister Sara live with their Aunt Willie. The story begins with Sara’s dissatisfaction with herself and her life, but when Charlie goes missing, she puts all that behind her to help find her brother.
While I appreciated Sara’s growth in the book and the tenderness between Sara and Charlie, it definitely isn’t one of the stronger Newberys that I’ve read. It is positive in its illustration that family relationships are more important than selfish concerns, but the book just didn’t grab me. To be fair, my conclusion could be based on the mediocre performance of the audio narration, which I didn’t at all care for.
"Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." (John 6:27, ESV)
Winner of the 2003 Orange Prize, Property by Valerie Martin is an extremely readable story set in the South and is, obviously, about slavery and what it means to be free.
Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars won the Newbery Medal in 1971. The title of the book refers to a little boy’s fascination with the birds. Charlie (who is mentally handicapped) and his sister Sara live with their Aunt Willie. The story begins with Sara’s dissatisfaction with herself and her life, but when Charlie goes missing, she puts all that behind her to help find her brother.
